About Philip
Philip Gilson-Smith is a counsellor based in the United Kingdom who focuses on anxiety and related concerns. He uses a down-to-earth style to help people talk through stress, low confidence, loss, addiction and relationship difficulties. Philip holds NCPS and brings five years of practice experience to his work.
He works with people who feel stuck in repeating patterns that hold them back. Philip helps identify those patterns and looks at how they formed.
Background and approach
Conversations aim to make problems clearer and more manageable rather than more confusing. Philip draws on a mix of approaches to suit each person. He uses client-centred listening to build understanding and cognitive behavioural tools to tackle unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.
He also uses hypnotherapy and Jungian ideas to explore deeper patterns when that feels useful. Sessions focus on practical steps and personal insight. People may set short-term goals, practise new skills between sessions, or use reflective work to understand emotions and reactions.
Philip emphasises working at a pace that feels right for the individual. He supports people dealing with trauma, grief, anger, intimacy issues, parenting stresses, career changes and addiction recovery. He also offers help around attachment, codependency, commitment and life purpose.
Philip aims to help people find clearer direction and more confidence in daily life.
Approaches that translate well to online sessions
Philip uses client-centred therapy to prioritise the person's experience and build a trusting space. That approach focuses on listening, reflecting and helping clients feel heard so they can talk through problems more clearly. Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, is used to identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviours; it often works well online because exercises and homework transfer easily between sessions.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Philip will discuss goals, preferences and what feels most helpful, then adapt methods as the relationship develops. This makes the therapy collaborative rather than one-size-fits-all.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat or text-based messaging to suit different routines. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation while phone sessions need less bandwidth and can fit a short break at work. Live chat and messaging let people check in between sessions or use written reflection when that suits them better. These options aim to make therapy more flexible and easier to fit into daily life.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Fatherhood issues
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Narcissism
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 5 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English
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